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EddieC 0 Posting Whiz in Training

Toshiba is taking another crack at high-definition DVD, sort of. Half a year after it ceased combat major operations in the format wars with Philips, Sony and the Blu-ray format, Toshiba has taken the wraps off , a new up-conversion format that it claims can wring more resolution from pictures on your standard-resolution DVDs.

The premier model is available now for a list price of US$149.99. Dubbed the XD-E500, the unit converts the 480p DVD signal to 720p, 1080i or 1080p. The mode you select depends on the resolution of your display. There are also sharp, color and contrast modes, two of which can be enabled in certain combinations. According to Toshiba's , enhancement effects will vary depending on the quality of disc content quality and your display's capabilities and settings. Hmmm, I guess that would be OK. The company also warns that "depending on the quality of the DVD disc, some video noise may be visible." Who cares about a little video noise, right?

Oh, and there's one more thing. "Due to laser pick-up and disc design," it might not play some DVD-R and DVD-RW discs, and some recordable media or recording formats may not be supported. Well in that case, I'll take two.

This move by Toshiba is either extremely smart or extremely dumb. If it's a way to repackage and clear out Toshiba's obsolete DVD-HD inventory, it's not a bad idea. But that doesn't seem likely since the XDE "does not produce or output native HD video content," says Toshiba. More likely is that the company thinks there's a market for high-priced players of standard DVD media that may not play some of your collection, don't look as good as Blu-ray and have more visual noise than $49 units.

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Quick primer: upscalers cannot invent genuine detail from a standard-definition disc. They work by interpolating pixels, applying sharpening and optionally noise reduction to produce a higher-resolution output. That can make many DVDs look noticeably better on larger screens, but it also tends to accentuate compression artefacts, grain and ringing. As observed, results depend heavily on the source disc and the display, so keep expectations realistic.

Practical setup and tuning tips: use a single scaler in the chain (player, receiver or TV) and disable redundant scaling to avoid double-processing. Set the player to match the display’s native resolution when possible and prefer progressive output if the display supports it. Use a digital connection (HDMI) over analog feeds to avoid extra conversion losses. Start with sharpness/edge-enhancement controls set low and increase only to taste — over-sharpening creates halos. If the player offers noise reduction, enable it only when the source is noisy; excessive noise reduction will smear fine detail. Check for firmware updates before deep troubleshooting.

If a burned disc won’t play, confirm the session was finalized, try a reputable media brand and burn at a lower speed, clean the disc and lens, and test the disc in another player to isolate the problem. When deciding whether to buy an upscaler, audition it with a few of your own DVDs if possible — the best units handle compression and noise without overdoing sharpening. For genuine resolution gains, the only real solution is native high-resolution source material rather than upscaling alone.

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